Political Quotes

“Mr. Chair, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 348, the Responsibly and Professionally Invigorating Development Act, or the RAPID Act. But if I had my druthers, I would change it to the ``Responsibly and Professionally Invigorating Diversion Act,'' or RAPID Act. I would say that it is a diversion because we have got important work to do in this Chamber, Mr. Chair. Everybody knows that we are approaching the end of the fiscal year. It will be here in 6 short days. During this whole month of September--we are at September 24 today-- we have had a total of 8 legislative days during this month, knowing that we are coming up to the end of the fiscal year and we need to pass a spending bill to keep the government open and operating. We have been knowing this. We spent 6 weeks in August, from July to September, a total of about 6 weeks at home lounging while the Nation's business in Washington, D.C., went undone. We have spent a total of 8 legislative days out of the 24 days in September doing everything other than addressing the looming issue, which is the coming, or impending, government shutdown. Now, we are here today. We just took one vote. This is the first legislative day of this week. We have got one business day left. The first legislative day, after hearing from the Pope, we have just had our last vote for the day. It was our one and only vote for the day, and it was to rename a post office. We are coming up on the government shutdown, and what are we dealing with?…”